Cutting Revenue and Arming Teachers

Senate Tax Committee Once Again Cutting Revenue to the State

The Senate Tax Committee last night passed out of committee a bill that dramatically cuts revenue to the state in a new tax cutting spree.

The biggest issue in the bill is decoupling from the federal income tax code. Under the new federal tax bill, many people who currently itemize on their income tax will no longer be able to do so. Under current Kansas law, our income tax system is coupled to the federal system meaning that if a taxpayer doesn’t itemize on their federal return, she cannot itemize on her state return. As a result income tax collections in Kansas would go up by about $135 million next year.

The bill passed by the committee yesterday will allow Kansas taxpayers to itemize on their state form even if they can’t on the federal form and so will wipe out the $135 million that would otherwise have come to the state.

Additionally, the committee also raised the deductibility of mortgage interest, property taxes paid, charitable contributions, and medical expenses to 100%. This, because of the decoupling mentioned above, will cost the state an additional $52 million in revenue.

Finally, they added in an increase in the standard deduction which will primarily help low income Kansans.

Essentially, if passed this bill will reduce revenue to the state by about $157 million.

The committee also passed a bill lowering the food sales tax from 6.5% to 4% in 2020 and then to 2% in 2021.

Governor Colyer Meets with KNEA

KNEA met today with Governor Jeff Colyer at his invitation.

We had a productive discussion with the Governor on school redesign issues, teacher empowerment, and how schools might ensure student success and the achievement of the College and Career Ready Standards for every child.

The Governor has been holding discussions with many organizations interested in finding a resolution to the school finance issue. We thank the Governor for providing this opportunity.

Bill to Arm Teachers to Get a Hearing Next Week

The House Insurance Committee, chaired by Rep. Jene Vickrey (R-Louisburg) will hold a hearing on HB 2789 early on Tuesday morning, March 27.

This bill would allow school districts to permit some or all teachers to carry firearms in school.

KNEA opposes this bill and will testify in opposition before the Committee. Kansas NEA’s position is that the safest schools are gun-free schools where the only armed persons on any school campus should be trained and licensed law enforcement personnel. Our position is an informed position having consulted with law enforcement officials who train schools, businesses and community organizations for active shooter occurrences. Our position aligns with our long-standing core values.

Here’s a review of the bill from our report yesterday:

Enter House Bill 2789 and Senate Bill 424, both creating the so-called “SAFER Act.” In the clever “language that means the opposite of what it actually does” world of ultra-conservatives, the bill purports to create the “Kansas Staff As First Emergency Responders act.” In this case, the “first emergency responders” would be classroom teachers.

Under the bill, school districts can supposedly choose to arm teachers and such teachers must hold a concealed carry permit and an additional level of permit known as the SAFER permit. These teachers would then be expected to pack a weapon at school and then confront an armed assailant. The bill makes no provision for law enforcement to determine who might be the “bad shooter(s)” and who might be the “good shooter(s)” when the SWAT team arrives to find multiple people with weapons drawn and engaged in gunfire.

But before you think this is an exercise in “local control” for school districts, a section of the bill specifically states that in schools where teachers are not armed, should an incident take place the school district is deemed to have been negligent should there be a lawsuit or other court action.

Instead of providing resources to ensure that school buildings are secure; instead of passing legislation to control the proliferation of assault rifles (the weapon of choice in mass shootings, read more here) including universal background checks; instead of providing resources for mental health providers, HB 2789 and SB 424 simply throw guns at the problem and hope Miss Smith will just go out in the hall and shoot an intruder. Problem solved.